Late Nights
by KatBauer
Summary: Tumblr prompt: Skye has been kinda off lately and Jemma has no idea why or what's going through Skye's mind but she is worried so, she figures out a way to make Skye open up to her and make her feel better.


"Skye? Something wrong?"

"Nope, s'all good."

Jemma arches an eyebrow but refrains from further questioning the girl currently curled up on the couch with her tablet. Skye's behavior has been rather off, to say the least, in the past few days and Jemma is getting increasingly worried.

"Oh, well, if you need to talk, you know where to find me," she offers with a sincere smile.

Skye smiles back and gives her a thumbs up, but the smile never reaches her eyes, Jemma realizes, and with a heavy, frustrated sigh, she exits the lounge, leaving Skye alone.

In the next few days, she tries several times to get Skye to talk, but all her attempts fail every single time. Skye starts to spend less and less time in the lab and more time locked in her bunk, until Jemma can no longer stand it and decides to take matters into her own hands.

She has a plan.

Kind of.

After days of observing Skye's nocturnal habits (for science, of course, she finds her fascinating), she has learned that Skye has a tendency to stay up until very late, some nights going to bed as late as four, five in the morning.

So she waits.

And just as predicted, once the rest of the team has retired for the night, Skye leaves her bunk and makes her way to the lounge with her laptop safely tucked under her arm, settling down on the couch, completely oblivious to Jemma's presence.

So it's not until she feels a fluffy blanket being draped over her shoulders, that she realizes she is not alone anymore.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Jemma softly asks.

"Shouldn't _you_?" Skye retorts, tugging at the hems of the blanket to wrap it tighter around her body. "Thanks," she adds in a whisper.

"I asked you first."

"And I asked you second."

Jemma rolls her eyes, exasperated, and sits down next to Skye, gently nudging her thigh with her knee to get her to scoot over and make room for her.

"If you are having trouble sleeping, I could give you something to he—"

"No," Skye cuts her off. "No more drugs. I've had enough to last me a lifetime, thanks."

After that, a silence envelops the two of them, the only sounds coming from the plane's engine and the soft tapping of Skye's fingers against the keyboard as she types. The silence is comfortable, but it's not what Jemma had planned.

"Is it a nightmare, then?" she finally asks.

Skye's fingers suddenly halt their movements and hover over the keyboard for an instant, before she composes herself again and resumes whatever it is that she's been typing.

"Kinda," she says, chancing a glance at Jemma before focusing again on the screen in front of her.

"Skye…" Jemma carefully places a hand over Skye's, covering her fingers with hers and forcing her to stop the frantic typing.

Skye sucks in a breath at her touch, but doesn't flinch away. Instead, she turns her hand up and laces their fingers together, her gaze now seemingly fixed on their joined hands.

"I'm that obvious, uh?" she mutters.

"Not really. Only if one has been paying attention."

"And you have. Been paying attention, I mean." Skye's eyes then flicker up to meet Jemma's, and when they do, there's warmth in them, along with some other emotion that Jemma can't quite pinpoint.

"Well, it is my duty as your doctor, and close friend, to ensure your well being. And besides," Jemma trails off as she very gently brushes the tips of her fingers against Skye's cheek and then lightly traces the dark shadows under her eyes. "When one's patient is as stubborn and unruly as you are, what other choice do I have?"

"I can't sleep," Skye then blurts out. "Every time I close my eyes, I see it happening, over and over again. And it's driving me insane."

Jemma doesn't need to ask, she doesn't need any explanations.  
She knows exactly what 'it' is.

And so she does the only thing she can think of, or rather, the only thing she's been wanting to do for days, weeks, even. She lets go of Skye's hand, ignoring the surprised look on her face, and pulls her into her arms instead, Skye's head tucked under her chin while her hands rub soothing circles on her back.

Skye melts into the embrace, and then tilts her head just a bit up until she's able to press her lips against the underside of Jemma's jaw in a shy, but grateful kiss.

"Stay with me?" she asks, one hand tugging at Jemma's sleeve, her expression almost child-like.

Jemma simply nods, and when Skye smiles up at her, an actual happy, sincere smile this time, Jemma knows that everything is going to be okay.


End file.
